Regents OK new rules for disabled students

Thousands of high-school students with severe disabilities will graduate with "credentials" rather than "diplomas" under a rules change that state Regents approved Monday after years of emotional debate on Long Island and statewide.

A key Regents committee also OK'd the potential creation of another graduation document for students with moderate disabilities who are capable of some high-school-level work but unable to pass entire batteries of state exams. The name of that document has not been determined.

Monday's twin decisions raise the possibility that graduates at future commencements could be handed one of four different types of exit papers, depending on their level of accomplishment. State education officials who recommended the changes contend the revamped system will encourage more teenagers to complete high school by recognizing differences in individual capacities for academic and vocational training.

Those officials defended the decision to eliminate IEP diplomas for students with severe disabilities, saying use of the word "diploma" implies completion of academic requirements well beyond those students' capabilities. "IEP" stands for Individualized Education Program -- the unique special education and other services mapped out for a student with a disability.

But the Regents' decision to replace such diplomas with newly named "Skills and Achievement Commencement Credentials" was protested by student advocates, who have fought for retention of IEP diplomas since the state first suggested they be eliminated in 2008.

Statewide, 5,566 students, or 2.9 percent of all those who completed high school, earned IEP diplomas in 2010, according to the state's latest figures. That included 470 students on the Island.

"The big-box stores and the restaurant chains require a diploma. They don't say which kind -- they just say a diploma," said Roy Probeyahn of South Manor, who sits on Suffolk County's Disability Advisory Board and has three adult sons who completed special-education programs. "And now our students won't be able to say they have a diploma."

State education officials acknowledge that opinion is divided, but say a majority of educators will support the changes.

"The IEP diploma was being accepted by hardly anybody -- big box or not," said Roger Tilles of Great Neck, who is the Island's representative on the Regents board. "We think this [new credential] will be a lot more accepted in employment than the IEP diploma, because it's indicating skills."

Receipt of IEP diplomas signifies that students have completed requirements of their Individualized Education Programs. Those requirements can range from acquiring basic academic and job skills to learning how to dress themselves, depending on a student's individual level of disability.

The new credentials spelling out skills acquired by teens during their school years are to be awarded starting in the 2013-14 school year. Monday's approval without objection by a Regents committee virtually ensures passage by the full Regents board Tuesday.

State officials further defended elimination of IEP diplomas by pointing to a recent incident in Albany, in which a star basketball player enrolled in an IEP program reportedly was pulled out of high school by his mother. According to an article citing sources that was published in the Times Union, the mother took action after discovering her son's school program would leave him ineligible for college sports.

Some education conservatives scoffed at the state's plans to create as many as two new graduation credentials for students with disabilities.

B. Jason Brooks, research director for the Foundation for Education Reform & Accountability, an Albany-area think tank, said such a move would "send a clear message to students, parents and the public that the state has no intention of actually striving to raise student achievement."